BLACK FLAG: POLLIWOG PARK, MANHATTAN BEACH, CA. 7.22.79. AUDIENCE RECORDING.

After playing a handful of local gigs and making a small name for themselves during the first part of 1979, Black Flag was somehow booked to perform in front of little over 1000 people on a Sunday afternoon in Manhattan Beach's Polliwog Park on July 22, 1979. Clearly the event organizer had no knowledge of what Black Flag represented. The Tourists and Big Wow were two new wave groups that opened the show and I have read in some sources that Black Flag was a last minute replacement. Either that or Greg Ginn did his typical finagling when it came to speaking to a promoter; Ginn's angle to bypass a booking refusal was to tell a promoter that Black Flag were "a rock group with jazz influences".

The crowd of Southern Californian families had no idea what was about to hit them that afternoon. Expecting a relaxing Sunday afternoon in the park while casually listening to a tame, bearded Eagles type rock group, onlookers were treated to the unadulterated vitriol of a young Black Flag. One fan reflected on seeing Black Flag that day: "They played for my winning Little League team that day. They were a last minute replacement band. We threw chicken bones and watermelon at them". 100 or so ardent Black Flag fans turned out for the performance and acted totally unruly. A local newspaper described that crowd as "jumping up and down in the traditional punk pogo and pelted the band and nearby crowd with oranges, tomatoes, watermelons, cans, rocks, and bottles".

The audience source of this recording is indeed primitive sounding for the casual listener of Black Flag. Regardless of the quality, this is truly a significant and historic performance. It's incredible to think that this performance even lasted 24 minutes (6 minutes of it being an actual riot) and that the plug wasn't pulled on the band during one of the first few songs. Unfortunately there is considerable clipping during "Machine" and a drop out during "I've Had It". Regardless, this is an enjoyable listen and truly a lasting punk rock document from an era when bands were truly confrontational.

If anyone has a different source of this performance, I would love a copy.

Track list:

1. Don't Care

2. White Minority

3. I've Heard It Before

4. Machine

5. I've Had It (cut)

6. Nervous Breakdown

7. Spray Paint

8. Jealous Again

9. Police Story

10. Promoter speaking to the crowd/rioting

11. Revenge

12. Fix Me

13. Depression

14. Louie Louie

DOWNLOAD:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mj5dz0hldlc

DIE KREUZEN: 1982 DEMO.

Die Kreuzen are simply one of the best hardcore bands to ever exist. They were first known as the Stellas and quickly changed their name to a rough German translation meaning “the crosses” or “sign of the cross”. After contributing tracks to the “Charred Remains” cassette compilation and the “Master Tape” compilation album, they unleashed the mighty “Cows and Beer” 7” EP, which ranks as one of the greatest hardcore records ever produced.

The period prior to “Cows and Beer” consists of the aforementioned compilation tracks as well as two extraordinary demo tapes. These demos are better than most other bands' officially released output from the time period. This specific post will focus on the 1982 demo. I will post the 1983 demo in the near future.

Track List:

1. This Hope

2. Pain

3. Hate Me

4. In School

5. On the Street

6. Hate Me

7. Get 'em

8. Enemies

9. Fighting

DOWNLOAD:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mkr3z4mw0rz

FEEDERZ: LIVING ROOM DEMO 1979/80.

To me, the finest punk groups with the greatest sense of cultural vitality possess the skill to move past the simple confines of the genre. The Feederz are one of the finest examples of such bands. Before even playing a gig, the band distributed literature that was interpreted as being a terrorist communiqué. Their first gig was highlighted by singer Frank Discussion firing blanks from anAR-15 assault riffle into the audience. In 1982, Discussion composed an anti-school manifesto entitled “Bored With School” that posed as an announcement from the Arizona Department of Education. These pamphlets were somehow not checked for content and distributed in large quantities. Facing inevitable prosecution, Discussion fled Arizona and took refuge in San Francisco were the second lineup of the Feederz was formed.

Some testimony to their recorded output is clearly necessary. “Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss?” is simply one of the best hardcore records ever released. The tracks are truly diverse and show that the band was musically competent and ideologically clever. The lyrical themes reside beyond the confines of political correctness while also being truly seditious. In situationalist fashion, the sleeve of the album is enshrined in sandpaper so that it could damage and thus devalue your other albums.

The “Living Room” demo was recorded in late 1979 and early 1980 and feature the first lineup of the group. These tracks were recorded in bass player Clear Bob's living room. All four songs from the "Jesus" EP are included on this demo as well as many tracks from the yet to be recorded debut LP. "Peter Gunn Theme" was compiled on the all California "Killed By Death" Volume 12 and “Stop Your Killing Me” has been compiled on “Killed By Death” Volume 14.

Track list:

1. Subscription (cut)

2. Just Like Your Mom (Vox Pop)

3. Mommy’s Gone

4. Dead Bodies

5. Avon Lady

6. RU 19

7. Jesus

8. Smile

9. Peter Gunn Theme

10. Terrorist

11. Stop You’re Killing Me

12. Destruction Unit

13. Vulvateen

DOWNLOAD:

http://www.mediafire.com/?zjiycdwtnth

TEENAGE HEAD: HEATWAVE FESTIVAL, MOSPORT PARK, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA. 8.23.80. FM BROADCAST.

You wind up setting the standards pretty high when you name your band after one of the Flamin’ Groovies best songs. When considering the early output of Teenage Head, they rarely fell short of these great expectations.

Arguably the most popular Canadian punk rock band at the time, Teenage Head played early on a bill of new wave heavyweights. Holly and the Italians, Rockpile, Graham Parker, the B52’s, Talking Heads, Pretenders, and Elvis Costello and the Attractions also performed. The Clash were originally supposed to headline the festival but either cancelled at the last minute or were detained at Customs. The promoters of the Heatwave Festival lost a considerable amount of money because they expected 100,000 people to purchase tickets but only half that number attended.

This Teenage Head set was broadcast on FM radio. This set features songs from their debut classic self-titled album and “Wild One” from the “Frantic City” album. One reviewer described the Teenage Head set as: “two scraggly guys playing guitar and bass, and a crop-haired singer in long-tailed livery coat and eyeliner. ... good ol' head-banging ramalama punk rock. A large and vocal following cheered them on, and they played with confidence, as if they belong up front of all those people." Teenage Head's live album featured a picture of them performing at the Heatwave Festival.

Soundboard recordings also exist for the Talking Heads, Pretenders, and Costello sets and are in circulation.

Track list:

1. Top Down
2. Wild One
3. Picture My Face
4. Some Kinda Fun
5. Alimony
6. Everybody's Growin' Old
7. Let's Shake
8. Lucy Potato
9. Brand New Cadillac
10. You're Tearing Me Apart
11. Somethin' Else
12. Kissin' The Carpet
13. Disgusteen
14. C'mon Everybody

DOWNLOAD:

http://www.mediafire.com/?b2nyzgvgoz4

IGNITION: BIELEFELD, GERMANY 11.27.87. AUDIENCE RECORDING.

I have to say, at the end of the day, Ignition are my favorite harDCore band. Ignition's lyrics and music were both very moving and interesting to an era of DC music filled with absolute garbage. While I'd heard Ignition on an early mix tape I received from an older friend sometime in 1995 I didn't buy their CD discography until later on sometime at the end of 1997, but I found Ignition musically, aesthetically, and lyrically very interesting.

This show comes from their European tour in 1987. I have no idea what the venue is, but I am curious to find out. The recording is very noisy and dirty, which blended with their more melodic musical style makes for an interesting audience recording.

Track list:

1. Consequence

2. Anxiety Asking

3. Cancellation

4. So Moving

5. Proven Hollow

6. Rebuilding

7. Buy and Sell

8. Previous

9. Temporary

10. Sinker

11. Anger Means

12. Throttle

13. Non Verbum

14. I Got a Right

Download:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/5ny8wp

MORE THAN A WITNESS WELCOMES CONTRIBUTOR WILLIAM PATRICK WEND.

I came in contact with William several years ago when I discovered that he was a fellow tape trader. He posted his tape trading comprised of live shows and demo recordings on the Revelation Records message board. We quickly began a correspondence and proceeded to send each other recordings that we were both eager to hear. When I was thinking of qualified people that could contribute to this blog, I immediately thought of William. His knowledge concerning unreleased, live, and demo hardcore recordings is extensive.

William is responsible for an incredible site dedicated to archiving hardcore show flyers. This collection is impressive and is a must see for anyone interested in the artwork and history of hardcore. This site can be viewed here: http://www.hardcoreshowflyers.com/

He will be contributing some of his favorite demo and live material to More Than a Witness. Please stay tuned for some of William’s favorite hard to find material.